Navy veteran, art student and bouncer among bar attack victims

Navy veteran, art student and bouncer among bar attack victims

One was a veteran police officer who did not hesitate to run toward danger. Another was an art student who worked with children at her church.

Others were a Navy veteran, an a cappella singer who worked as a caregiver, and a security guard with a “big personality” who was known for making sure everyone got home safely.

They were among a dozen people killed in a shooting at a country music bar in southern California. Authorities believe the gunman, Ian David Long, ultimately killed himself.

The victims’ stories began to emerge on Thursday. It was going to be a “very difficult day for many people,” said Andrew Fox, mayor of Thousand Oaks, California, where the attack happened on Wednesday night.

Ron Helus

Today we mourn the loss of Sergeant Ron Helus who gave his life serving the community. Please keep his family and the families of the victims in your thoughts and prayers. pic.twitter.com/EwDsnPRDCs

Cody Coffman, who had just turned 22, was talking with Army recruiters and preparing to fulfil his dream of serving his country, said his father, Jason Coffman, who wept as he told a group of reporters that his first-born son was among the victims.

Cody adored his siblings — three brothers between ages six and nine — and he could not wait for the birth of a sister, due on November 29, said Jason Coffman of Camarillo.

“Cody was the big brother that my kids need,” he said. “He was so excited to have his first sister and now she’ll never know …”

He trailed off, sobbing, then said, “Oh, Cody, I love you, son.”

He said his son was passionate about baseball, serving as an umpire for a little league, and they went fishing together.

“That poor boy would come with me whether he liked it or not,” he said. “That’s the kind of stuff I am truly going to miss.”

Jason Coffman said he last spoke to his son on Wednesday night before Cody headed to the bar where the gunman opened fire.

“The first thing I said was, ‘Please don’t drink and drive,'” he said. “The last thing I said was, ‘Son, I love you.'”

Justin Meek

Newly graduated from California Lutheran University, Justin Meek cared for children with special needs, performed as a singer and worked at the Borderline bar.

It was there he “heroically saved lives” before being killed, Cal Lutheran President Chris Kimball said in a statement.

The campus chapel overflowed on Thursday with people attending a service of mourning.

Since last summer, Mr Meek had worked for Channel Island Social Services as a respite caregiver, supporting families with children with special needs, mostly developmental disabilities, chief executive Sharon Francis said.

“Parents just adored him. He was able to bond with their kids,” she said. “He was just an all-around guy.”

Danielle Gallo, who also works at the family-run organisation, said he was dedicated to the kids he worked with.

“You could tell he really had a heart for what he did,” she said, sobbing.

Mr Meek also toured professionally as an a cappella singer, said family friend Patrick Ellis, who called Mr Meek a talented musician, singer and athlete and a “fantastic human being”.

“He was a hero every day of his life,” Mr Ellis said. “It was just always positive energy. … Anything he could do for you, he was just there.”

Mr Meek played water polo for Cal Lutheran and had planned to go to San Diego this coming weekend for the retirement party of his dad, a Navy Seal. Mr Meek also worked at the bar with his sister and fellow Cal Lutheran student, Victoria Rose Meek, who survived, Mr Ellis said.

“Both very polite, iconic American kids, highly educated, wholesome,” Mr Ellis said of the siblings.

As a student, Mr Meek lent his full, velvety voice to the Cal Lutheran choir, where “every time he sang, you could just feel it in your soul,” recalled choir member Rachel Counihan, 20.

“He cared so much about his craft and just cared so much about other people,” she said. “He was just full of light and happiness.”

Scott Roberts, 20, a junior at the school and friend of Victoria Rose Meek’s, had warm memories of her brother.

“He was just the nicest dude,” Mr Roberts said. “I’m just praying he’s in a better place.”

Alaina Housley

Alaina. My sweet, sweet Alaina. My heart breaks. I’m still in disbelief. It’s not fair how you were taken and how soon you were taken from us. I was blessed to know you ever since you… https://t.co/XKQctkyRgi

Alaina Housley was just 18, a promising student at Pepperdine University with plans to study law, her family said.

Adam Housley, a former Fox News correspondent, and Tamera Mowry-Housley, an actress known for the 1990s TV series Sister Sister, said their niece was killed at the bar where she had gone line dancing with friends.

“Alaina was an incredible young woman with so much life ahead of her, and we are devastated that her life was cut short in this manner,” the couple said in a statement.

Alaina was bright, popular and well-loved, a student who had a 4.5 grade-point average since junior high school and earned college scholarships, said her grandfather, Art Housley.

She played football and tennis all through high school, studied piano and violin, and sang, he said.

“She’s a really good kid,” he said, fighting tears, before her relatives learned their fears of her death were true. “Everybody loves her.”

Noel Sparks

Pictures of Noel Sparks are seen during a candlelight vigil in Thousand Oaks (Ringo HW Chiu/AP)

Noel Sparks, a 21-year-old college student, loved going to the Borderline Bar & Grill, so friends and family were not surprised when she posted a photo of herself dancing there Wednesday night.

Her aunt Patricia Sparks of Morristown, Tennessee, said police informed Ms Sparks’s father on Thursday that she had died in the shooting.

“We’re in shock,” Patricia Sparks told The Associated Press.

She described her niece as an “all-around good girl. She was the kind of girl that if you had friends, you’d want them to marry her”.

Ms Sparks was a regular at Borderline, where she spent Halloween and celebrated her 21st birthday in August. She often went there with friends and her mother.

When friend Jackie Jones heard about the shooting, she jumped into her car and headed to the bar shortly after midnight. She was determined to find Ms Sparks.

“She would do that for me,” Jones said.

The two met through church two years ago and became fast friends. Ms Sparks was artistic and a leader in church activities. She was majoring in art at nearby Moorpark College.

Ms Sparks worked part time at Calvary Community Church in Westlake Village. She helped with children’s programs, the Rev. Shawn Thornton said.

“She loved kids. We had a lot of parents show up today to say, ‘She made my child feel important and that they mattered,” Thornton said.

Sean Adler

Photo of Sean Adler during a vigil in California (Jae C Hong/AP)

Sean Adler, 48, was a security guard at Borderline who would stay late to ensure people could get home safely, said Debbie Allen, a longtime friend.

The married father of two boys died doing what he was passionate about — protecting people, Ms Allen said.

“He was a very, very big personality and had a very, very gorgeous smile,” she said, adding that he had once considered becoming a police officer. “I don’t think in all the years I’ve known him, and it’s almost 30, I ever heard him say ‘no’ to someone”.

His other passion, she said, was coffee. Mr Adler recently opened his own coffee shop, Rivalry Roasters, in Simi Valley, said Phil Englander, another longtime friend.

“He was just the most passionate person about coffee you would ever want to meet,” Mr Englander said.

Mr Adler joked about being a “coffee dealer” and spoke energetically, using his hands, while people listened.

“He always had that energetic personality,” he said. “He’s just such a warm and friendly and passionate person about everything in his life.”

Mr Englander said he stopped by the coffee shop Wednesday to visit Mr Adler.

“We talked about family, and we reminisced about an old friend of ours we haven’t seen in years,” he said. “I woke up this morning to tragedy.”

A vigil was held for Mr Adler on Thursday night at the coffee shop. Another one will be held Friday to include family travelling from out of town.

Telemachus Orfanos

Telemachus Orfanos, 27, was a US Navy veteran with a thick beard, an easy smile and a gladiator helmet tattoo. His friends called him “Tel”.

“Here are my words: I want gun control,” his mother, Susan Schmidt-Orfanos said, her voice shaking with grief and rage after learning her son was killed. “I don’t want prayers. I don’t want thoughts.”

She said wants Congress to “pass gun control so no-one else has a child that doesn’t come home”.

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